Again, stop buying that store-bought stuff. Especially when it's so quick and easy to make. Funny I should say that because this is the second time ever I made it. But seriously, I'm now a convert. Having tried all variations of hummus available in the stores, I can say that this one is epic, because my staunchest critics (er ... my children) were raving about it all week. And that isn't supposed to be taken lightly.

The texture was spot on, the flavours were fantastic and the time invested to bring this to fruition ... faster than driving to Costco (I live kinda close ... I can get there in 10 minutes ... okay, another 5 minutes to park!)

So what's the big deal about my heavenly hummus? Za'atar! Paprika! Cumin seeds! And loads of lemon juice (and some zest ... did you notice the balding lemon on the left?) Yep, this blog isn't called Fueling with Flavour for nothing, baby!

All that jazz in addition to the obligatory tahini, garlic and lemon juice. Everything goes into my trusted 8 year old Vitamix and tadaa ... your heavenly hummus awaits you. Hope you got the pita bread.

Thanks to my plant based daughter, there's always a stash of cooked chickpeas in the freezer. But by all means, use a can if that motivates you to make your own hummus. If you don't stock za'atar, don't have to go out and get it. Since it's made up of marjoram or thyme, sumac (a Lebanese souring agent made of sumac berries), cumin seeds, sesame seeds, and salt and pepper, you can substitute with most or all of the ingredients in it ... pinches of dried thyme, lemon zest (to sub for sumac), cumin (seeds or ground) and sesame seeds.

Get your stuff together, and make this hummus. It's amazing for those warm summer nights or days when you just can't bear to turn on either stove or oven to feed yourself. And you can save the leftovers :)

Directions:
1. Everything in the bad boy blender, then process, adding as much water as needed to make a smooth paste.
2. Taste, adjust seasonings.

If you find you need more salt, and it isn't lemony, add a bit of lemon (or sumac) before the salt. One thing I learnt from the thug kitchen ... if you think you need more salt, what you need is a souring agent first. This prevents you from over-salting. Proven countless times in my kitchen.

3. Plate, sprinkle with smoked paprika, drizzle your best olive oil in the crevices, and place some sprigs of parsley in strategic spots.

Grab a pita and dig in!

Now do you still want to buy that store-bought stuff? Didn't think so.

Nothing short about my shortcake, sweetie. So I looked around and thought ... why shortcake? It isn't even a cake. I know, right? History says that this crumbly cake originated in the United Kingdom in the 1500s. It was a quick bread made by mixing all the dry ingredients, then the butter is cut in until the mixture resembles coarse sand, then finally the liquid is added until the dough is just moistened. It's a dough-y cake (compared to a batter cake) that is then rolled out, shaped, and baked at a high temperature.

In the 1800s, the shortcake was served with just butter or sweetened cream, and it was in the US that the strawberry was introduced to this shortcake, and strawberry shortcake parties were held in the summer to take advantage of the bountiful berry harvest. But wasn't until 1910 when French chefs made the final twist to that recipe to the modern version of this recipe as we know it - and that is with the addition of whipped cream. Today, Strawberry shortcake day is celebrated in the US on June 14th.

June has passed but berries are abundant, and my children are clamouring for the strawberry shortcake that made its last appearance 6 years ago. Yes, I can't believe I haven't made strawberry shortcake for six summers. What have I been doing? Slacking, no doubt.

This should make up for it, and hopefully the kids won't have to wait that long to have strawberry shortcake, or blueberry, or peach shortcake, for that matter.

Directions:Strawberries:
1. Wash, remove the tops, and thinly slice the strawberries.
2. Place in a medium bowl, mashing up to half of them to release their juices.
3. Add the sugar and lemon juice, mix well, and set it aside to macerate.

Shortcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 425F and line 2 baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, transfer into the bowl of a food processor, and pulse a few times to mix everything together.
3. Scatter the butter cubes on top of the flour and blend until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
4. Slowly start pouring the cream down the chute. If your processor doesn't have a chute, add the cream in 2 batches.

5. Blend enough to let the mixture just come together. It will clump together on one side of the bowl.
6. Remove it from the processor, it's done.
7. Place on a lightly floured countertop and roll to 2.5 cm (1/2 inch) thick.
8. Divide the dough in 2, stack one slab on top of another, and roll out again to 2.5 cm (1/2 inch) thickness.

9. Using a floured pastry cutter, cut down into the dough, and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Space them about 5 cm (2 inches) apart.
10. Pile the scraps together and press them into a disc and roll it out again, trying not to overwork the dough.
11. After you've patched up and used up all the dough, brush the 2 tbsp of cream on top of the shortcakes and sprinkle them with a bit of turbinado sugar.

12. Bake for 10-15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets around the 8 minute mark.
13. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before placing them on a cooling rack to cool completely.
14. When cool enough to handle, slice them in half sideways with a serrated knife.
15. While the shortcakes are cooling, refrigerate the strawberries, and prepare the sweetened cream.

Sweetened cream:
1. In a preferably cold mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream until slightly thickened, adding the icing sugar in increments.
2. Add the vanilla extract and give it a final whisking to bring the cream to stiff peaks.
3. Refrigerate the sweetened cream until ready to serve.

Assembly:
1. On the base of the shortcake, pile the strawberry compote, add a dollop of sweetened cream and top with the top half.
2. Garnish with a sprinkling of icing sugar and a sprig of mint.

This eggplant dip is one of the more notable dishes of Levantine cuisine, usually eaten as a meze or starter with pita bread. The name Baba Ghanoush (or Ganoush or Ghanouj) in Arabic loosely means 'a pampered or coy father-like figure'. Let's not feed too much of it to the men around us then ;)

The preparation involves baking or broiling the eggplant so it gets a smoky taste, before whizzing it with olive oil and tahini. Most of the time involved in making this easy and delicious dip is the waiting for the eggplant to char in the oven. After that, it's just your blender standing in between those roasted eggplants and the baba ghanoush you're going to dip that pita in.

Most recipes will char the eggplant directly on an open flame or broil them in the oven. Uhh ... my smoke detector is much too sensitive for either of that, so I opt for the slow but sure way to achieve the desired 'roastiness' with nary a hint of blackened bit to set off the alarm. Yes, many a recipe have been adapted over the years so as not to wake the neighbours. So if you want to save a couple of minutes, do char the cut eggplants on the gas burner using tongs, or place them under the broiler. Whatever works for you to get a deep dark brown tint on the skin.

I was on a Mediterranean roll lately and made baba ghanoush, hummus and tzatziki, and enjoyed it with pita bread. And what a light yet satisfying lunch it made on a hot summer day!

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 230C or 450F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Wash, then cut eggplants in quarters. Pierce them with a sharp knife in the thickest part of the flesh.
3. Place the eggplant chunks in the baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, turning them over once around the 15 minute mark.

4. When sufficiently browned, remove from the oven and immediately place a foil on top to steam the eggplants, this makes the skin so much easier to peel off.
5. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes and when safe to handle, remove the skin and place the eggplant chunks directly in your blender.

6. Add the remaining ingredients: garlic, tahini, olive oil, sumac, some salt and pepper, then blend till however smooth or coarse you prefer.
7. Taste and adjust. You may need more salt than you think.
8. Transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of paprika, and strategically position that sprig of parsley. (You are going to take a picture of it, I assume).

One bite with a pita bread and you'll wonder why you bought these from the store all those years. Ahem ... speaking from experience, of course.

A few days ago, my daughter came home and told me that it's her friend's birthday next week and could we please make her some cupcakes. Hmmm... As I was mentally going through my schedule and thinking about whether I would be working that day, she then proceeds to let me know that I don't have a chocolate cupcake recipe on the blog and that this would be a great opportunity to do one. Hahaha. Sold!

These cupcakes are moist, they are rich, they are your personal little treat you don't have to share. Surely you weren't thinking of splitting one, were you? We've made it less sweet so it can take on a bit of frosting, but even then, we were enjoying these beauties sans icing, and it was amazing.

It was actually surprising how fast I could pull this through. As long as you've taken out the butter and eggs to come to room temperature, mise-en-place took 15 minutes, beating and mixing another 15, baking a final 15, and these cupcakes were done in under an hour. I wasn't even done wiping the counters down and I had to take them out of the oven!

So yes, they are as superb as they are speedy! We need not sacrifice effort for outcome in this case. This blog is called 'Fueling with Flavour' after all, not 'Desserts under an hour' ;)

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes, and is adapted from Joy of Baking's chocolate cupcake recipe.

Directions:
1. Line 24 cupcake cups into 2 muffin pans.
2. In a small bowl, stir in the cocoa and espresso/coffee powder into the hot water, then set aside to let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides often.

5. Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 175C or 350F.

6. Into the mixer, add the eggs, one at a time, followed with the vanilla.
7. Add the flour and beat only until incorporated, taking care not to over mix.
8. Slowly, pour in the cooled cocoa mixture, scraping down the sides to fully incorporate.

9. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Place a tea towel on the counter and gently 'bang' the muffin pan on it to settle the contents and create a flat surface, ensuring the cupcakes rise evenly.
10. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cupcake.
Do not overbake or they will turn out dry.
11. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Tri-potato? Because one will just be monotonous. Because every varietal brings its own uniqueness to it. Because, with the skins, it looks really pretty. And because these are all the potatoes I had in the kitchen. LOL! Though now, there's no other way I'd do potato salad.

First, let's cover skins. 99% of the time, I keep skins on. Why? Nutrition. Iron and potassium, and loads of fibre. Fact: gram for gram, the skin provides five times the fibre as the same weight of potato flesh! So yes, keep the skins on. But please, scrub them really vigorously first.

Now varietals. I usually have to keep googling the different potatoes I need to cook different foods and now narrowed it down to this equation, which I keep in my notes...

Next ... prep. It's faster and easier to chop the potatoes first, rinse them twice to get the extra starches out, then boil them.

Finally, flavouring. Some recipes use chopped onions or scallions, I don't really dig raw onions in salads, that's why we do celery and green onions. Herb-wise? I'm satisfied with parsley, but some recipes call for dill or tarragon, and you could do that too. Whatever you have in your fridge or pantry will work.

Oh, and yes, this is a vegan potato salad because I found a miracle vegan mayonnaise that I actually like ... Vegenaise. Yaaay! This opens up so many possibilities. First vegan butter, now vegan mayo. Nice! I'm tarting to convert most of my recipes into vegan. This makes my plant based daughters really really happy!

Ingredients:

1 kg (2 lb) assorted (more waxy potatoes)

1 tbsp salt

1/2 cup Vegenaise (egg-free mayonnaise)

2 tbsp mustard

2 celery stalks, diced

1 tbsp celery salt, or to taste

Generous amount of freshly ground pepper

2 stalks green onions, sliced

fresh (or dried) parsley

To top:

1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced

Sprinkling of dried chilli flakes

Freshly ground pepper

Fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Scrub the potatoes vigorously, then cut them into 2 cm chunks.

2. Place in a colander and rinse twice to wash off the excess starch.

3. Transfer the potato chunks in a large pan and fill it with cold water, immersing them with an inch of water.

4. Sprinkle the salt on top and bring to a boil over medium high heat.

5. After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender. This may take about 10-15 minutes. You can test this by piercing them with a skewer or a fork.

6. Drain the potato chunks onto a colander and run cold water on them.

7. Set aside for 15-20 minutes, rinsing them with cold water now and then to speed up the cooling.

You do want to eat this for dinner, don't you?

9. When cooled, place on a large bowl, then gently toss with the mayo, mustard, celery, and the seasonings.

10. Taste, and adjust if needed.

11. Cover with a plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

They're thin and crispy, and they have oodles of chocolate in them. A dark chocolate batter with white chocolate chunks! 'Nuff said!

Except that I cheated and had these white chocolate chunks that were studded with macadamia brittle (leftovers from hubby's birthday sail) and they have been sitting in the freezer for a few days now waiting for inspiration. But please, don't let that stop you from making this recipe. Get a white chocolate bar with hazelnuts or cornflakes, both sold by Ritter Sport. Love their squares! And who's to say you can't use a dark chocolate bar? You are using a bar, right? Enough with those chips now. Seriously.

These cookies are a dream, it's not to sweet, only because we rely on the white chocolate for most of the sweetness, and there's a bit of crunch from the nuts and who doesn't love that? And they're decadent enough for dessert. At least, that's how we consumed most of them. For dessert!

I had all the ingredients out to come to room temp, and disappeared from the dining table after dinner while my S.O. was checking his mail and doing stuff online. Then when I brought these with a glass of milk in front of him, he was like 'Whoa? What? When?' Best dessert this week, at least for him. Cookies and milk are dessert for him. Yes, the way to a man's heart is really with chocolate chunk cookies. STG!

Towards the end of the batch I was a bit tired and just divvied up the batter to make 3 giant cookies, and that's when I spotted a jar of toasted pecans, which had 7 pecans exactly, and the add-on section of my pantry (where I keep chia, hemp hearts, and other random stuff that's good for you). And this is what came out of those last few seconds before I had to put the last tray into the oven. My kids called that one the Mercedes cookie ... LOL!

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 175C or 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt,

3. Cream the softened butter with the sugars until lightened in colour, about 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides to fully incorporate them.
5. Add the vanilla to the creamed mixture.

6. Reduce the speed of the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients. Alternatively, use a wooden spoon, mixing just enough until no flour streaks remain.
7. Finally, fold in the white chocolate chunks.

8. Using a cookie or ice cream scooper, drop balls of dough onto the baking sheet.
9. Lightly shape them into discs.
10. Bake for 15 minutes until just slightly underdone. This makes for softer cookies.
If you like them crispy, er ... who doesn't? Place them back into the oven when the oven is off (but still hot) and leave them in there for 20-30 minutes.
11. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Remy's ratatouille or Ratatouille's ratatouille. However you may know it, you have probably seen this dish which was made popular by the Pixar movie, Ratatouille, a few years ago.

It is in fact a modified version of the French classic ratatouille, a summer dish from Provence, and includes the traditional harvest vegetables in the area: tomatoes, eggplants, and squash, although cooked and presented in a stylized manner, known as Confit Byaldi.

The name confit byaldi comes from a Turkish dish, Imam Bayildi, which is a dish where an eggplant half is stuffed with vegetables. Interestingly, Imam Bayildi literally translates to 'the imam (cleric) fainted' LOL! Hopefully, only because the dish was so good!

The first appearance of confit byaldi came from the kitchen of the French chef, Michel Guérard, to whom we can attribute the delicate slicing and the baking of this dish, instead of the traditional cubing and frying of the vegetables in a classic ratatouille. He took a cuisine classique and created a lighter nouvelle cuisine version.

Confit Byaldi was recently popularized by the Pixar movie, Ratatouille, whose producer interned for a few days in the kitchen of notable American chef, Thomas Keller's 'The French Laundry' in the Napa Valley. When asked what iconic French dish Keller were to serve an acclaimed food critic, the chef decided he would make ratatouille, but in the confit byaldi style.

Keller added to Guérard's style with the use of a pipérade, a tomato and bell pepper sauce (as shown on the top photo) under the vegetable slices, and a vinaigrette (bottom photo) on top of the vegetables.

The confit would then be baked in the oven with first, a parchment on top to steam the vegetables, then without the parchment, to delicately roast and caramelize the vegetables in the final stages of cooking.

The resulting baked dish is then served on individual plates with a dollop of pipérade in the centre, on top of which the vegetable slices are fanned, then finished with a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette.

Confit Byaldi been on my bucket list for a while now and voilà, it is now on my plate. And the blog. Whew! Not only is it a feast for the eyes, it is très délicieux as well.

This recipe is baked in a 33x23cm (9x13inch) baking pan, and serves 6 as an appetizer.

1 yellow squash (I couldn't find it so used another kind of green squash), thinly sliced

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced finely

1 tsp fresh thyme, minced finely

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vinaigrette to serve:

2 tbsp reserved pipérade

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 sprig fresh thyme, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:Pipérade:
1. In a sauté pan, heat the oil, then sweat the onions, garlic, and chopped peppers until softened.
2. Add the tomatoes and their juices, and the herbs, simmering on a low heat until slightly thickened and most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Taste, season with salt, and remove the leaves and herbs.
4. Transfer to a bowl, then set aside to cool.
5. Reserve 2 tbsp of the pipérade for serving.
Note: Keller's recipe has the bell peppers roasting in the oven before adding them to the onion, garlic, and tomato mixture. Here, I just cooked it, with the skins, with everything else.

Vegetables:
1. Lightly butter a casserole dish with olive oil, spread the pipérade on the bottom of the dish.
2. Working from the sides, arrange the vegetable slices in a slightly overlapping manner towards the centre of the dish.
Tip: I found it faster to lay the different vegetables four at a time on my palm and then transfer them to the baking dish, instead of picking and transferring them one at a time. You may not use all the vegetables you painstakingly prepared. Don't fret.

3. Preheat the oven to 135C or 275F.
4. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, and thyme.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Taste, and adjust if needed.
6. Drizzle this mixture over the vegetable slices.
7. Cover the casserole dish with parchment paper, then with foil, sealing the edges.
Tip: Don't forego the parchment as the vegetables may get stuck to the foil, but not the parchment. Then why the foil? Because the parchment doesn't grip the sides of the pan and doesn't seal the steam in. Aha!

8. Bake in the preheated oven for 2 hours until vegetables are tender. Gently poke a skewer or a paring knife into a vegetable slice to test.
9. Uncover both foil and parchment, and bake a further 30 minutes, taking care that is isn't browning. Cover again if it does.

Now this dish actually improves with age, and is best the day after. After it is cooled, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to two days. It gives the pipérade time to intensify and the vegetables to soak up all the surrounding flavours. To reheat, bring the casserole dish to room temperature, and place in a 175C or 350F preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

To serve:
1. Make the vinaigrette by whisking reserved pipérade, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh thyme, and salt and pepper in a small bowl.
2. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Set this aside.

3. With a spatula, lift about 4 inches worth of the hot/warm overlapping vegetables.
4. Hang on to this while you get a dollop of pipérade from underneath.
5. Place the pipérade in the centre of the plate.
You didn't drop those veggies, did you?
6. Whew! Now fan them on top of the mound of sauce, using your fingers to guide them.
Surely you didn't think they were going to fall into place on their own.
7. Top with a spoonful of vinaigrette on top.

Now stand back, revel in your culinary masterpiece, take plenty of pictures, sit back and dig in!

Yaay! These came out really well, and surprisingly good, I may add. The flavour and texture were spot on, and the addition of olive oil helped with thinning and crisping them out, which I adore about cookies.

Okay, there is that hint of flaxseed, there's no denying that, but if, like me, you grew up drinking unadulterated cod liver oil, you get past this really quickly. LOL! Even my kids didn't seem to mind. The dark chocolate deliciousness will make that even easier. Psst ... you may want to load up on that.

It's good, it's vegan, it's a friggin' chocolate chip cookie! Do you seriously need a reason to make this right now? Just do it! This recipe was adapted from the Oh She Glows cookbook by the amazing Angela Liddon, and oh ... it makes 24 medium sized cookies.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Prepare the flax egg and set it aside to meld.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

4. Beat together the butter, oil, and sugars until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the flax egg and the vanilla to the creamed mixture.
6. Reduce the speed and fold in the flour, mixing until just combined.
7. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

8. Shape the dough into balls using your hands or a cookie or ice cream scooper, flattening them slightly.
9. Place on the baking sheet and bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes.
10. Cool, still on the sheet, for 5 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack.

Seriously, can this breakfast treat get any more healthier? Vegan and gluten-free? Okay, there is some sugar in here, but who's to say you can't use maple syrup instead? I could have, but then I'd have a halo on my head the whole day for making it, and I couldn't do it to my plant-based daughter. LOL!

Incidentally, that is her styling for her Instagram account where all edibles are vegan. Isn't it pretty? floatberry ... that's her account.

And to contrast that, this is my humble and minimalist photo, with nary the slightest decor, just barely serving archival purposes. To be very honest, I had to rush out the door in 10 minutes and these waffles actually ended up in Sally's food container that I've kept for a whole year! Surely I couldn't douse them with liquid sweeteners and load them up with fruits. She would be having these very waffles for breakfast the next day. Yes, Sally, I touched them. All of them.

Also lately, I've been having this thing about throwing in some random stuff in batters just because maybe I've seen enough waffles or cookies to last a week. So the last few I made were amped with a mega dose of cinnamon and a handful of raisins. Now springing forth a cinnamon raisin version of these already amazing vegan and gluten free waffles. Dang! Ran out of batter before I could make another version with chocolate. Hmmm ... giving you ideas?

This recipe is adapted from Thug Kitchen's cookbook, and makes 8 large or 12 small waffles. Double it to make all sorts of variations. Cinnamon raisin, chocolate chunks and walnuts, chopped berries? Come on, you can get creative!

Ingredients:

480 ml (2 cups) nut milk of choice, at room temperature

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

180 g (1-1/2 cups) cornmeal (makes for a bit of crisp)

120 g (1 cup) all-purpose gluten-free flour

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1-1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cinnamon

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Add the vinegar to the nut milk and set aside. Stir well before using.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

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About me

Growing up in a multicultural family, we have always enjoyed a wide array of cuisines. That's why you will find here a taste of the Indian, with special emphasis on Sindhi cuisine; a taste of the Indonesian, especially the Manadonese dishes, and surely, the universal Chinese dishes.